Carnegie Mellon University to invest in East Africa ICT sector

A university based in the United States, which has just established a regional centre in Rwanda, will largely aim to spearhead the development of science and technology in East Africa.

The Carnegie Mellon University will also offer a 50 per cent discount on scholarships to prospective students from the East African Community (EAC) partner states, the regional body’s Arusha-based secretariat announced yesterday.

“Research and development in technology is now a global enterprise and Carnegie Mellon realised that education also needed to be a global enterprise to meet the demands of highly skilled engineers and innovators,” said Prof Bruce H. Krogh, the university’s director in Rwanda.

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Prof Krogh cited ICT where EAC has an internet broadband access with the most extensive inland fibre-optic connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa.

“For the case of Rwanda, there is a business-friendly, pro-ICT development programme (Vision 2020) under which nation-wide fibre optic cable will be installed throughout the country,” he said.